


Straitjacket Feeling

by slashmania



Series: Straitjacket Feeling [1]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Amnesia, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-26 07:33:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1679996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashmania/pseuds/slashmania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eames, through an accident involving some chemicals, can't remember Arthur. Arthur, having just come to terms with his feelings for Eames, gets exactly what he wanted six months ago and have the Forger forget him. This is a lesson in irony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1- In Which Something Unfortunate Happens To Eames

**Author's Note:**

> My first Inception fanfiction, originally posted on fanfiction.net.

Chapter 1- In Which Something Unfortunate Happens To Eames

It was meant to be practice.

Safe.

'Just a little test,' Yusuf had assured him.

Under the effects of a new chemical compound designed for the PASIV, Eames had opened his eyes and found himself on a barren shore, where there was nothing but swaths of seaweed stretched across damp sands decorated by loose cobbles and shells.

Looking around himself, turning a full 360 degrees to get the full effect of his new surroundings, Eames didn't quite catch on to what was going to happen until it was just a bit too late.

He didn't know what made him turn to look over his shoulder as the sun shone on him and his barren stretch of beach, the air taking on the neon-white glow of truly surreal dreams…without the water Eames could think that he was really lost on a distant and strange desert.

His eyes widened in shock- a sudden tidbit of information struck him from ages old courses in earth sciences- 'And, what Mr. Eames would be the product of an earthquake on the seafloor?'

The shadow of the wave, miles high and so blue it made his eyes ache to stare at it, swallowed him with ease as he recalled his response to his professor's question.

'I believe sir that an earthquake generated wave would be called a tsunami.'

All it took was another breath for him to be struck down, submerged, and swallowing down a great lungful of water the color of cerulean. And the trouble wasn't over after he awoke from the dream with jerk and a long indrawn gasp accompanied by a bout of choking. The trouble was only just beginning...

* * *

 

Now, when Arthur was brought into this situation, he had no idea what foolish things Eames had done or agreed to. Arthur was very carefully and precisely working on working. That's right- our Point Man had spent the better part of six months after Inception ignoring that things had changed.

Ridiculous really. Of course everything had changed! Dom was a free man and could once again be with his children. Dom had also nearly killed the entire team when the failure of Inception had been imminent.

Saito had survived his crash course learning experience about how it didn't matter how freaking rich and powerful you were in real life when you could have your brains turn into the equivalent of banana pudding after dropping into Limbo.

Ariadne was hooked on more than dream work and in the last six months had become quite attached to Dom. Arthur wouldn't lie- despite being in a life or death situation and risking Limbo with the aforementioned threat of a brain like banana pudding, he was even more afraid of the young Architect taking the diversionary tactic of his kissing her in front of Fischer's projections as something more.

Arthur wasn't the type to start relationships with young female Architects. He might not have started anything if Ariadne had actually been male rather than female. While he tilted in that direction, he had already set his cap for someone and even then, he was still not so very happy about it.

He knew one person that would be ecstatic about the change of heart and would probably have much to say to his 'darling' about the length of time it took to admit to it.

Arthur felt fairly certain that Eames would use the word 'confess', saying it with just the right tone, eyeing him with a pleased smile, enjoying himself greatly while trying to catch the Point Man squirming.

The Point Man would never admit to squirming, but every time he thought about the situation, he imagined himself with a cluster of butterflies in the pit of his stomach. When Arthur thought of Eames, he had the same feeling as he did when thinking of roller coasters.

Arthur enjoyed roller coasters. He did. But at the same time as he strapped himself in he would go over the many statistics and figures that were related to the number of accidents and fatalities that were the results of mishaps involving roller coasters. When Arthur thought of the Forger he would experience that same fluttering of nervous anticipation in the pit of his stomach- he wanted the man, but was also busily weighing the prospects of putting himself in danger- never mind that in this scenario his body would be reasonably safe while his heart and feelings were what would be the most likely to take a hit.

_Your love is like a roller coaster, baby-baby. I want a ride!_

As the words of the popular Red Hot Chili Pepper's song came to mind, Arthur forced the thoughts away to attend to the report he was typing- He was going to focus on their latest job, the young man they were going to be doing a 'kind-of-sort-of-but-not-really-illegal' extraction of information from had a busy schedule and it was up to Arthur to find a way to make this work and iron out all of the angles so Dom could examine it- then they would go over the team.

Ariadne would definitely be required. Yusuf, as well.

As Arthur's thoughts were dragged once more to the Forger, he was shocked out of his musings when his cell phone rang.

Peeking at the glowing face of his phone as he quickly finished the sentence he had been working on before his thoughts had been drawn to the conundrum that was Eames and his unexplainable feelings for the man, he clicked on the proper icon to save the document and reached for the phone before it rang for the third time.

In his first glance he had noticed that it was Yusuf calling him.

It is here that it should be pointed out that Arthur didn't expect anything more than Chemist chatter- nothing mind blowing. Nothing that would scare him. And nothing that would make him regret picking up the phone and look back later on the seven days that followed with misery and something close to hate.

Because before he answered the phone he had been reasonably certain that he didn't deserve any bad treatment from the capricious hand of fate. His hard work had contributed to the success of Inception (and yes, Eames got to compliment him dozens of times over for completing the kick while in free-fall, though the elevator definitely helped his plan pay off- it didn't matter because Eames had called him 'love' and 'darling' and 'brilliant' all in the same sentence while Arthur had pretended not to preen under the pet names). Arthur was reasonably certain that if it hadn't been for his gentle rejection of Ariadne's misplaced affections after the completion of Inception, Dom wouldn't have a young and brilliant girlfriend.

There were more instances. He was sure of it. But every thought blew clean from his mind leaving a rather startled blank, when after he had said hello, Yusuf dropped the bomb on him.

"Something has gone wrong. I need you here now."

Arthur had felt his brow furrow, confused as to what the Chemist could require of him. And after another second, the man said in a rush, "It's Eames."

Then the Point Man could feel it. It was the butterfly feeling he got, the fluttering little sensation that struck him whenever he happened to be about to take that swift first drop from the crest of the coaster- the same feeling he got whenever he was looking at Eames with his scruffy hair, unshaven face, clothes that didn't have a chance of even _appearing_ to match, the man having just sent him a comment that was so annoying or suggestive that Arthur wasn't sure if he wanted to slap him or just kiss him and get it over with!

Arthur felt…confined. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. He didn't want to think but it seemed to be the only thing he was capable of doing right now- just zip through all the possibilities while Yusuf chanted something into his ear through the line of the cell phone that was fading in and out with a series of crackles and pops.

_Straitjacket_ , Arthur thought to himself. _No more butterflies for you- Try this on, it's your straitjacket feeling_ … 

As Arthur swallowed hard, the idea of vomiting sounding perfectly rational, he realized that the arm that was free and not pressing the phone to his ear had wrapped itself across his chest to clutch at his shoulder. He shuddered and keyed into what Yusuf was saying.

"- Arthur? Are you alright? Please, you have to come and come quickly he's-," Yusuf's voice cut out with a pop and then the call ended.

That didn't leave Arthur with many options at all. He laid the silent phone on the table top and rose to his feet. When he realized that he was still holding himself he tried to force himself out of his own hold, jerking his arm away from his chest and breaking the grip he had on his shoulder.

His arms tingled and buzzed with that phantom feeling of the straitjacket- he shook his hands and tried to dispel it.

There was no question of what he was to do. When he noticed that his hands had stopped the minute twitching tremble after his vigorous shaking to get the blood circulating and force away that mental image of being bound in such a way. He powered down his laptop, grabbed his coat, and locked up their temporary offices. Then, Arthur was gone, off like a shot, and running to the Chemist's.

_Strait-jack-et (noun) 1. A jacket-shaped garment with long sleeves that can be tied together, used to restrict the arm movements of somebody who is thought to be dangerous. 2. Something that limits somebody's freedom of action or initiative._


	2. Chapter 2- In Which Arthur Gets A Well Deserved Lesson In Irony

Chapter 2- In Which Arthur Gets A Well Deserved Lesson In Irony

Sometimes, Arthur thought to himself, it didn't matter how good a person you were. You still could get fucked royally.

When he had arrived at the Chemist's he hadn't been greeted with any sight that was good enough to drag him down here in such a frenzy.

During the taxi ride there, Arthur had gone over several different circumstances and scenarios. All of them were in full color and were the type of dramatic stuff out of soap operas. They played through the Point Man's mind in a long reel of hopeless scenes- Eames stuck in Limbo, Eames poisoned by the Chemist (preferably by accident), and so on and so on.

Having hurriedly shoved the bills at the taxi driver and bounding up the steps to the Chemist's, Arthur felt the wind disappear from his sails as he reached the front room and found that Eames was perfectly fine.

Not dying, not dead, nowhere close to it, in fact.

Arthur's eyes narrowed as any worried expression that might have been on his face disappeared and was replaced by a scowl. Having caught sight of the Point Man's change of facial expression Yusuf rose from where he had been seated with Eames at a small table with a photo album placed between them.

The Chemist's eyes were wide and he approached with his hands before him, looking like he was prepared to ward Arthur off. Arthur's jaw clenched as he glared at the man.

"Arthur," the Chemist began in the tone that Arthur hated to hear whenever a person was trying to hopelessly cover their ass. "If the connection hadn't failed you would have been prepared for this development."

"The development of Eames not requiring my immediate appearance at your lab?" Arthur said, his tone of voice sharp edged and lethal. Yusuf flinched visibly.

"No, Arthur, you just don't understand yet, it's very complicated and once I saw the problem Eames was having I had to have you come here!"

Before Arthur could open his mouth and growl out a reply, Eames finally turned away the photo album he had been looking at and glanced over at him.

Arthur wasn't sure at first what was wrong, but, when Eames focused on him, the Point Man noticed that something was wrong. There was not a speck of recognition from the Forger. Nothing. Not even a hint.

Normally, when Eames caught sight of Arthur, no matter what the Point Man's mood happened to be, he would be given a friendly or downright salacious look.

Now, Eames could have been looking at any random person on the street. A stranger. Nobody of great importance.

The words out the Forger's mouth only confirmed this.

"Whoever you are, sir, dial it back a bit? Yusuf is only trying to help." Then Eames glanced him up and down and sent Yusuf a grin- "When you send for help you don't just get the first person you see off the street, do you? Did you pull this one off of a cat-walk?"

Arthur had to stop his first reaction of flushing at what could very well be a compliment because of his clothes or his overall appearance, except, well, Eames didn't even know him.

And that made Arthur regret every time he had wished reverently that the Forger would just _forget him and leave him alone._ It was like he was getting lesson in irony…

He had gotten what he had wanted to happen months ago. He had come to the conclusion about what he wanted, who he wanted, was ready to try for it, and then- the person he wanted most didn't even know him anymore.

Arthur swallowed hard and tore his gaze away from Eames- his scruffy, poorly dressed, _irreverent smart alec that now didn't give a damn who he was_ \- and looked at Yusuf.

The man seemed to be weighing the notion of allowing the floor to swallow him or fetching a poisonous array of chemicals to avoid having to explain how he messed up to Arthur.

"It was a perfectly safe compound," Yusuf began in a rush as soon as he had the door shut to his office.

Arthur turned to face him. Maybe something on his face showed what he was feeling.

"My friend, I didn't mean to make him forget you."

Arthur found himself nodding, but didn't know what else to do.

"Is it permanent? What were you even _doing_ having Eames test it for you?"

When Yusuf said nothing, Arthur felt his stomach drop somewhere close to his knees while his heart jammed itself into his throat, a confusing feeling that only got worse as the silence grew.

"You had a photo album out," Arthur managed to say, remembering seeing it on the table. "You tested his memory for faces and noticed that he didn't remember me?"

Yusuf sighed and leaned his back against the door.

"When he woke up he was babbling about tidal waves, and drowning, and I tried to think of something that would calm him down." Yusuf gestured to a framed portrait on his desk and without being asked, Arthur picked it up.

It was a picture he recognized- it was taken after the Inception. When they were all glad to be alive and wanted to commemorate it with a photo for proof. The entire team- Dom, Saito, Yusuf, Ariadne, Eames, and himself had stood together and had their picture taken. Looking at it, Arthur remembered what happened with a slight smile.

'Come on, love, I want you to be right here, right next to _me_!' Eames had said before yanking Arthur away from where he stood at the fringe of the group while still staying in range of the camera. Eames had tugged him right up against his side, his arm pressing against the other man's shoulders to keep him in that spot and hold him closer for the photo.

It had annoyed Arthur to no end, but he couldn't deny that he liked his copy of the photo, and that he also liked to look at the pair they made and silently admit to himself how _good_ they looked together.

"I showed it to him, and the first question out of his mouth was 'And who's the gentleman I'm hanging all over?' I thought that he was joking around, but, after a few more questions and testing with other photographs I found that you are a blank spot in his memory now."

Arthur closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. Eyes still closed he asked, "What kind of compound were you experimenting with."

"The compound was going to be tailor made for therapy sessions in dreamscapes. Patients that would experience trauma and are subject to harmful memories could face them, or have the illusion of having them disappear from their conscious mind. It appears that Eames had subconsciously chosen the image of a wave…"

Arthur bit the inside of his cheek and opened his eyes, not sure exactly how to answer a statement like this.

From everything that Yusuf had said, the compound had done its work on Eames- and apparently, all Arthur was to Eames was a traumatic memory that was now safely disposed of in the subconscious.

"I will find a way to fix the problem, but Arthur, I want to ask you a favor- I need to see how far his loss of memory has gone and why it is only focused on you. Could you stay with him?"

Arthur blinked.

"You expect me to take him into my home as if this is normal? Like this won't be strange and terrifying? How am I going to help if he doesn't know the first thing about me anymore?"

Yusuf gestured helplessly. "What else do you want me to tell you, Arthur? I have been able to narrow it down, and as it stands you are the only person that Eames has forgotten. He can recite his name and birthday, and if shown a picture from my photo album he can tell me who is in the photo and as many as five different facts or a story about that person. If I try to get him to connect a story with you, as you are also in these pictures, he comes up with a blank!"

Arthur still held the picture frame in his hands and looked down at it in despair. "You think that spending time with me will jog his memory…"

The Point Man looked up in time to see Yusuf shrug helplessly.

"Theory is all we have at the moment. If you can abide Eames for a little bit, maybe I can come up with an antidote."

"Define 'a little bit'."

Yusuf sucked in a breath through his teeth and refused to make direct eye contact.

"Give me at least a week. Keep an eye on him- test his memory- talk about yourself and see if he retains anything."

Arthur looked down at the photo in his hands. The copy he had at his apartment was in a nice silver frame and lived on his desk where he would work on his computer and look at it fondly.

The Point Man took great pleasure in looking at the photo and thinking of all of the things that could happen now; now that he had come to his decision, realized what he wanted enough to quit living in denial.

Eames was the one he wanted. If all he had to do was keep an eye on the man for a week while Yusuf came up with a cure for his mistake it increased the odds of him actually getting to do more than idly _think_ about a relationship with the Forger.

In his heart, despite the frustrations Eames caused, and the bickering they engaged in, Arthur wouldn't give up the chance to have something more tangible than a dream.

"Alright," Arthur said, placing the picture frame back on top of the Chemist's desk. "He can stay for one week, just seven days. Any idea how we're going to explain _why_ he will be staying with a guy he doesn't know?"

Yusuf bit his lip and looked upwards, leaning himself back against the door. "Give me a second and I can come up with something he could buy- before I started the test with the compound he had been moaning and groaning about a pest problem in his apartment complex."

Arthur's eyebrows rose."If they aren't already in the process of calling the exterminators, I can dummy up some paper work to make it appear like they are to get him over to my place without any major problems."

With a vague game plan at the ready, Arthur and Yusuf exited the office to find Eames still looking at the photo album. The Forger looked up, his expression still confused when he looked to Arthur.

The Point Man was sincerely hoping that what Yusuf was suggesting would work out.

Before Arthur left to look into the matters of Eames's complex pest problems Eames had gotten Arthur's name wrong three times.

If Arthur could see the future he would understand that Eames getting his name wrong was the least problematic thing to occur.

In fact, getting someone to fall out of love with a person they don't even remember is a pretty fantastic problematic feat in and of itself.

And _that_ wasn't scheduled to happen until four days later.

* * *

 

Despite the screw up involving Eames's lost memory of Arthur, nothing prevented the man from working with the team on the latest mark the very morning after he had moved in with him. Eames was perplexed at how quickly the manager of his apartment building was taking care of the rodent problem and had been equal parts grateful and curious over Arthur's offer of a place to stay.

Despite that, Eames had agreed and nothing of any importance happened that night.

A brief team meeting had been held so that all parties excluding Eames would understand the situation and not interfere with what Yusuf was calling 'the experiment'.For the sake of the experiment and the literal blind spot Arthur presented in Eames's memory, the Point Man was being explained away as a new member of the team.

Parameters were set and everyone was on the same page.

No one was to correct Eames about his assumption of Arthur. Predictably, this lead to a series of increasingly uncomfortable interactions and circumstances between the other members of the team and the two men 'the experiment' focused on.

If anyone had a lick of sense they would have left well enough alone and stopped helping.

* * *

It shouldn't have surprised Arthur as much as it did when Ariadne tried to get him alone and ask him how he was feeling.

After spending an evening being polite, distant, and a good host, Arthur was just a little bit drained. Breakfast had been an awkward affair over coffee, it being so hard to reconcile how Eames was acting in front of whom he thought was no better than a perfect stranger.

It had hurt Arthur in the strangest way to notice that Eames wasn't pointedly taking small bits of food off of his plate before serving himself the same thing, pronouncing that he was 'testing to see if anything had been poisoned'.

How he didn't try to steal Arthur's newspaper just to read the horoscopes and then make up silly forecasts for Arthur's sign.

No, Eames had been perfectly polite, his humor just a shadow of what it normally was, and Arthur wasn't sure how to feel when he noticed the difference.

There had been years when he had wished for Eames to be different. Years of hoping that one day the man would grow up and stop chasing him so persistently were coming back to bite Arthur firmly on the backside.

The ordeal wasn't over after breakfast- no, they had to get to work and it only made sense for Arthur to drive them both. He noticed other differences between the Eames of before and the Eames of today- when they were inside the car, buckled up and ready to go, the man didn't play with the radio stations.

Eames had always complained that Arthur didn't even listen to music as he drove- instead he would listen to the traffic reports, seeking as much information as possible, as always trying to remain ahead of the game even if it was just for the drive to work.

So, Arthur got to listen to the traffic reports uninterrupted by the noise of the sudden station changing as the reports for a nasty freeway accident were replaced by Brittney Spears singing 'Oops I Did It Again'. And of course, Eames belting out the lyrics along with Brittney with very little musical ability but plenty of enthusiasm to make up for it would follow.

The drive was boring and music free which should have made Arthur stress-free for his day and ready to take on the work he had left unfinished after hearing of Eames's unfortunate accident.

It didn't.

Ariadne zeroed in on him after the private briefing about the current situation and began to comfort him. Or attempt to.

Her bid to comfort him involved hovering over his desk, lips pursed in worry, asking if he was okay. She gently placed a cup full of steaming coffee on his desk, close to his hand but not so close as to pose a danger to his laptop or the swiftly growing stack of file folders for the team member’s perusal.

Her actions had caused him to raise his eyebrows and then catch Eames who was making a show of himself reading the newspaper that Arthur had discarding after breakfast. Eames couldn't be more transparent in his examinations of the pair he made with the young Architect.

Arthur nodded his thanks to Ariadne and gestured with a file folder, indicating that she should look at something inside of it.

Once he had her attention he began to whisper, going to extra trouble to make the movement of his lips imperceptible as he avoided looking to Eames as the paper rustled.

"I would like to know why you are making him pay attention to us right now."

Ariadne flushed very faintly. "I just had this idea," she said in an undertone. "I want him to remember you- I really do sympathize with what you're both going through…so I got to thinking about ways that he could begin to associate you with _us_."

"I'm listening," Arthur said, pointedly trying to ignore the way she referred to what had happened as a shared trouble for both Eames and himself, though at this point he shouldn't care if his co-workers had an inkling about his feelings for the Forger, and well, the Forger had never been one to hide his interest. Arthur supposed he should be happy that Ariadne was willing to help him.

Ariadne unconsciously licked her lips and let out a nervous breath of air that smelled like green tea and just a touch of cherry chapstick. "He remembers me. I know that there is one really good memory that he would link to you through me…"

Arthur had been thinking of the ridiculous moment when the Forger chose to demonstrate what the kick was for Ariadne by making him fall out of his chair- laughing and smiling that _damned wonderful smile_ at him. If Ariadne wanted to try and knock him out of his chair he was game for it- what would the harm be, anyway?

He had nodded in agreement to the idea, not at all prepared when Ariadne quickly cupped his face in her hands and kissed him full on the mouth.

It lasted all of five seconds, maybe ten at the most, but once it was over, all Arthur could think was a bleary- _And that could be another instance that would get Eames to link me to Ariadne_ …

When Ariadne had finally separated herself from Arthur she had smiled very quickly and hustled herself over to her desk to begin working the designs for the dreamscape they would be working with.

There was a rustling of paper as Eames quickly folded it in half, set it on the side of the chair he had been sitting in, and walked of the large room they worked in.

When Arthur shot Ariadne a dark look she blushed and ducked her head. 

* * *

When Dom appeared, leaning over his desk so that his shadow covered a bit of his computer screen, Arthur stopped his quick typing, saved, and looked up at the Extractor. His face held as much foreboding as a thundercloud.

"If you try to kiss me Dom I can't be responsible for what occurs," the Point Man said in a very dry tone of voice.

"When we said that we were going to help you both out of this situation, I didn't think that meant that Ariadne was going to be…doing that sort of thing."

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Dom, I didn't know that she was going to be doing that either. And in case I have to remind you, I don't want your girlfriend. You know who I want," he said, unable to stop the embarrassment that who qualified as his closest friend and fellow team member was privy to this knowledge.

Fortunately, Dom seemed to have the same feeling on the matter. Yes they had been in severely dangerous situations together, got shot at together, and nearly ended up trapped in Limbo together. But they were both entitled to their own personal secrets, wants, and desires. Dom would have been comfortable having the vague notion that as Eames was very eager to get into the Point Man's tailored pants, that Arthur might not entirely mind it either.

Confirmation of that fact seemed to cross an invisible line.And now, with the problem that had fallen into their laps _just_ as they were about to start a new job, forced them all to stop playing nice, looking the other way, and silently wishing the two men the best.

Now, they needed assistance. And Dom was anything if not a good friend with the best of intentions.

"She told me what she was trying to do…I don't know if it's working though."

Eames had made himself scarce after that, using a desire for fresh air as an excuse. He had taken his file folder from Arthur without any other comment. In a way, Arthur was relieved that someone other than himself was becoming worried by Eames's reactions to the situation.

"If you have any other suggestions that won't make me have to explain myself to Eames later, then, I'm all ears."

Dom was quiet for a moment, and then, spoke. When he started, Arthur should have known whose name was going to be on the man's lips before he started talking, just because of the look he got in his eyes that was part sad and part nostalgic and part heartbroken.

"When Mal was alive- before everything else happened, she would look at both you and Eames and believed that sooner or later you would get together. That you wouldn't stop bickering or giving each other grief but that you would learn to bend and Eames would learn that not everything is meant to be a joke. Personally, she thought that you both were perfect for one another."

Arthur looked at his computer screen, lost momentarily in his memories of Mal so that he didn't immediately register that Dom had placed his hand on his shoulder in a show of support.

"Everything will work out Arthur. He'll remember you. You just have to let him see everything that he loved about you to begin with."

Of course, that was the moment that Eames had chosen to come out of hiding, holding a thoroughly abused file folder in one hand. The Forger looked at the pair Arthur and Dom made and quickly took his attention away worriedly, as if he had walking in on something personal.

After noticing that behavior, Dom quickly removed his hand from Arthur's shoulder. There was tension where there shouldn't be, and it was only growing worse each time that Eames came back into the room.

"It would do me a whole lot of good if you could all stop trying to help me," Arthur said in an undertone as he looked at his computer screen, completely aware of Eames's attention. "You should know that I'm going to have to deal with him and his questions when we both go home tonight."

The attempts at supportive talk stopped dead there and Arthur was left to complete his work in peace, still aware of how Eames remained watching him.

* * *

When Yusuf came by and lingered a moment too long at Arthur's desk as he was closing down the computer for the day, it was understandable that the Point Man was operating on a hair-trigger. Since Eames wasn't in the room at this moment, Arthur was free to speak in his normal tone of voice without the pretense of whispering.

After the day he had had, it was a wonder Arthur didn't scream.

"If you dare to do anything that even looks like you are going to offer friendly support or just up and kiss me, I will ram this #2 pencil up your-,"

As Yusuf's eyes widened in shock, he looked at the cup full of perfectly sharpened pencils that was way too close to Arthur's right hand, and interrupted what was sure to be an inventive threat from the Point Man.

"I would never dream of doing that Arthur. Ever. Really, I just came to see how things were going. I didn't quite believe what Ariadne and Dom were saying, so I went right to the source."

Arthur's shoulders slumped and he pushed the cup of pencils further away, as if he were removing a source of temptation.

"Great. Just great," Arthur leaned back in his chair and began to massage his temples. "And what does our forgetful Forger think? After seeing Ariadne try and makeout with me, and witnessing me and Dom's brotherly support moment he surely believes that I'm some sort of office tramp that has a spot in my boss's pocket, right?"

Yusuf sucked a breath of air through his teeth, making that disturbing hissing noise that only made Arthur believe that whatever was going to be said next was going to be negative or throw a monkey wrench into the operations.

"He's terribly jealous, that's for sure. He has called and texted me several times today trying to learn more about you. He senses that you are familiar with both Dom and Ariadne but can't place you in his memory. The few pictures of you with the group prove that you have been here longer than he can actively recall and it's upsetting him. He's interested in you but feels that you are being standoffish and evasive."

Those words made Arthur quit his slumping posture and make himself sit up straight in one jolting movement- like he had been electrocuted.

"I haven't!" Arthur defended himself. "I'm not acting any different than I have in the last five years that I have known the man!"

Yusuf shrugged. "Perhaps it's an unconscious sort of thing- he believes that you watch him constantly but rip your attention away as soon as he begins to notice. And every time he tries to speak or associate with you, you turn into that lovable workaholic Point Man we know best."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at the 'loveable workaholic' comment, but for everything else didn't know what he was expected to say. They were handicapped by the fact that Eames had no previous knowledge of him now. No prior experiences that were good or bad. No history to draw from and connect them together. Their main goal was to avoid leading the man on, feeding him information that would force him to recall things in a certain way with no real substance.

Arthur was in effect, having to start with a fresh slate and work the relationship back up from nothing.

"He also keeps having these nagging feelings about you. I don't know how many times he has complained to me about _not_ calling you by some sort of endearment."

Now, that got Arthur's attention.

"Eames remembers the pet names?"

"Of course, all the 'darling's' and 'pet's' are a part of Eames's normal personality. But now, he's faced with a stranger that he doesn't feel comfortable with calling any of those names despite really wanting to."

For all points, Arthur shouldn't have felt like bouncing around in his chair, so he didn't. But even the thought that Eames was recalling something that he would do with such frequency that it had in the beginning bordered on the maddening to Arthur before it had become something of a secret pleasure.

"He thinks that you will take offense to the names, so, he clams up whenever he wants to say them. Eames honestly thinks that you are a good looking young man, would be stupid to not be attracted to you, and has all of the opportunities to act on those feelings as you are letting him stay with you."

Arthur sighed deeply and tried to compose himself. "I know that it is a bit soon to ask, but, how comes the antidote?"

"It's-," Yusuf cut himself off before Eames made his final appearance, shouldering a bag and adjusting his coat.

Eames shot Yusuf a strange look that Arthur was not even going to try and file under 'Jealousy' before he looked at Arthur instead. Some flicker of emotion made The Forger smile at Arthur, just a little shy.

"If you aren't too intent on sleeping at your desk, we could head back and have dinner?"

Not wanting to read too much into the Forger's phrasing, terms, and lack of his usual overconfident banter, Arthur simply nodded, and tried to smile back in return.

When Eames caught sight of it, his own smile widened to a point that had Arthur's chest aching with how familiar it was- it was that expression that would always precede his favorite of endearments- he didn't give a damn that it was early, not even a day into the experiments of getting the man's memory back. Some things are just instinctual like Eames's wish to even _call_ him by those names.

"Darling," Eames drawled just like Arthur loved, "I was beginning to worry that you were a regular stone-face!" And then, Eames caught himself. He laughed a little uncomfortably- "So sorry, I didn't mean to just call you that!"

Before Eames could ruin the moment with further explanations or discomfort, Arthur grabbed his laptop case and shook his head. "Don't worry, Mr. Eames, let's just get back home and have that dinner you mentioned."

As he followed Eames out of the room, Arthur couldn't help but look over his shoulder. Yusuf caught his eye, grinned, and gave him a thumbs-up.

* * *

Arthur had hoped that the behaviors of the rest of their group wouldn't be brought up when they reached his apartment. He had been safe until dinner was over, and Eames insisted that he help do the dinner dishes- drying while Arthur washed.

The Point Man had his arms submerged to the elbows in sudsy dish water, his sleeves rolled up accordingly, when the Forger began questioning him.

"Ariadne's a pretty girl, isn't she?"

Arthur didn't drop the dish he was washing, and instead, finished with it and handed it over to Eames.

"Of course."

There was the clinking sound of his plates being arranged on the dish rack on the counter.

"And if you could, would you date her?"

Arthur looked into the water and went for the silent tactic.

"Because, if you did, I'd think that Cobb is likely to kill you."

Unwillingly, Arthur snorted in amusement. He looked up at Eames and found that the Forger was staring at him in curiosity, trying to puzzle him out, work out the reason for _why_ he did so, and then, waited patiently for an answer.

"It was a terrible bet. I lost," Arthur said, lying smoothly about the reason for the Architect's actions.

This only seemed to puzzle Eames more."But, what about Dom? Would you go after him if you could?"

Arthur couldn't keep up a straight face, just the idea of him and _Dom_ of all people…

"Never Dom. Ever. He comes across as this bizarre combination of brother and father all mixed into one."

"Then, well, what about me? What would you think about _me_?"

Arthur had intended to break his gaze and go back to washing dishes. But that question just seemed to root him to the spot. There was an earnestness to Eames's face- he really did truly want to know.

Balanced on the edge of a knife were Arthur's desires- to say yes and let the chips fall as they may, allow himself what he wanted in the first place and start something that he was sure could be as wonderful as it could be risky and everything that he stood to lose because of Eames's loss of memory.

Arthur didn't want a fling. He didn't want Eames just once, he wanted him for as long as the Forger was willing to have him. Secretly, in his heart of hearts, Arthur wanted that to be for forever.

While Eames appeared to be trying to facilitate something that might be a relationship, in his current state it could just as easily not last- it could fizzle out and die- it could just never be what it _could_ have been had Eames not bothered to test that damned chemical for Yusuf.

"…Okay, I guess that was a little too soon, then."

Arthur had taken too long to give Eames an answer- he watched as the hopefulness faded from the Forger's face, giving him a pale and despondent expression.

All Arthur wanted was to wipe it off of the man's face, and fix the problem. He wanted _his_ Eames back!

Pulling his hands out of the water, Arthur turned to meet Eames as he tried to get out of his way and give him space. The feeling was palpable and all Arthur wanted to do was keep him in one spot and tell him everything.

Instead, Eames handed him a towel as his wet hands dripped steadily onto the kitchen floor.

"Why don't you clean up and get some rest. It's been a busy day," The Forger said softly before putting up the barriers and watching him like a stranger for the rest of the evening and most of the week.

The situation exploded four days later when they slept together and ruined everything.


	3. Chapter 3- In Which Everything Falls Apart

Chapter 3- In Which Everything Falls Apart

It surprised Arthur in many different ways that it had taken such a short amount of time for this little 'experiment' to go to hell. He had been willing to wait the seven days, the single week, gritting his teeth and bearing the awkward situations and the misunderstandings in the hope of a cure coming along and making it so Eames would be back to normal and if he had any real recollection of what had come to pass, that he would _laugh_ about it with him!

No such luck.

At all.

Ever.

It took only one day together to brush the Forger's romantic feelings aside, even though it was unwilling and sort of an accident.

And, now, it had taken just four days to make even the platonic relationship go to hell.

Arthur was certain that he had set a new sort of land-speed record for breaking the human heart.

To take this back a few paces, we, as the audience of this little tragedy would have to look in on Arthur as he invades Eames' privacy in search of new information.

It was the fourth day. The fourth freaking day, and Arthur was already jumping at little noises and practicing _not_ looking over at Eames every little chance he got.

In fact it was giving him this terrible crick in his neck when he attempted to sneakily look over at the other man who was practicing expressions in a small mirror not too far away.

At times, Eames would tear his gaze away from his own reflection to look in Arthur's direction. And, in his efforts to prove Yusuf, Eames, Fate, and anyone else wrong, Arthur gave himself neck strain by quickly forcing his attention away from the other man and _back_ towards his work.

Needless to say, towards the end of the day, Arthur had detailed fantasies that involved rubbing Icy Hot onto his sore neck.

And if he thought about it too hard, he'd include that it would be Eames who would be applying it (and yes, he only half meant it when he rationalized that having another person take care of it would be easier).

Plagued by these thoughts, particularly the drawled line of- 'But are you sure that you would like it icy, darling? I would think that you would prefer it to be, ah, _hot_.'- Arthur decided that he needed to do something to distract himself from these thoughts and get some questions answered.

As of late he had noticed that in the morning during the painfully quiet breakfast they shared, during the car ride to work, on lunch hour, after sessions on the PASIV, and quite possibly before bed, Eames had taken up writing in a journal of some sort.

Arthur didn't make it a point to invade the privacy of his fellow dream workers, but there was something about this journal that begged him to crack it open and see what exactly the Forger had been filling it with. It was late, the warehouse was empty of all but himself and Eames who was working with the PASIV, trying to iron out the kinks in his forgery.

He would never know, Arthur rationalized. It couldn't hurt. Maybe it could reveal what Eames's dreaming mentality was- he was actually kind of shocked that he hadn't thought about it himself. What if his memories were intact in his subconscious but out of reach while awake?

Fueled with a need for data and confirmation, Arthur slipped silently to the desk where the journal lay so innocently and unguarded, took a seat and flipped it open.

Despite having only owned the journal for a short time, Arthur could see that Eames had devoted a large amount of his time to filling up several pages with dated entries about dreams he had and his day to day experiences.

The dreams, or his recollection of the dreams, or maybe his state of mind concerning the dreams, caused him to write in the third person while he meant to write about himself. Or that was what Arthur was thinking.

'He doesn't know what is happening. He just sits around and mopes without him there. He has no way of escaping the trap he is in- it should terrify him, but it doesn't, because all he does is think about-'

Arthur could see that a word had been scratched out, but despite the sharp slashes of ink, made left to right horizontally, he could see the impressions of a capital 'a', and a 't-h-u-r' towards the end of the censored block of script. He was certain that the completed sentence had nothing to do with 'a Thursday'.

He didn't know why he had the urge to smile when he saw his name written down in this journal- well, that was a lie sort of. He always loved the way that Eames said his name in those rare moments when he didn't use some term of endearment. Eames and his accent had to be one of Arthur's favorite guilty pleasures. The way he said his name- Ar-thuh. One smoothly spoken 'Ar-thuh' coupled with a 'darling' made him feel like smiling like an idiot longer than could be explained away- for all the team, or even Dom knew, Arthur had paralysis of the facial muscles that allowed him to smile. Or he had become so good at being a Heavy Weight Champion Frowner he couldn't drop down into smile without spraining something.

Reading his name on paper, written by Eames, made him feel a little better despite the fact that it had been scratched out.

As he read on, he noticed that there were several moments where his name had been stricken from the record, but then, later on, Eames had given up the ghost and when he did happen to write down the Point Man's name, he let it be. This 'he' also happened to be an 'Arthur expert'.

'Arthur has dimples. Though it takes a quick eye to catch them, he always can. He smiles at Arthur and calls him something sweet, or even just says his name. He knows that if he looks at him out of the corner of his eye he can catch the smile that Arthur doesn't want anyone to know about. It makes him think that he is in the possession of something rare and precious. Because no one got to see it but him, and if he were to count them, _he_ was responsible for every single one of Arthur's hidden smiles.'

As he read this, Arthur couldn't help the smile that bloomed across his face. It was unrestrained, and if he were to admit it out right, it kind of hurt a little because of how little he had been smiling as of late. Without Eames his usual self, it was like this moment was hard exercise done without the proper warm up, and in addition to his neck, his cheeks would be sore for longer than he'd like.

Flipping through the other pages he found more of the same- talk of being trapped, or lost, or talk of Arthur. Could it really be that the Eames he knew, the Eames that remembered him, could be locked away in his own subconscious? That as he dreamed he gave himself this information, or maybe even spoke of it himself to pass the time- the translation to the waking mind could very well be 'I' becoming 'He'. For all the waking Eames knew, he was dreaming of a stranger with all sorts of intimate knowledge of his standoffish coworker.

And that was when the proverbial light bulb went on.

Arthur had peeked over at the still sleeping Forger that was lying on top of a lawn chair, hooked up to the PASIV with the timer going.

The Point Man didn't think it through. He didn't plan. He just acted with little care to the consequences- there was easily another fifteen minutes on the timer and he felt that it could be more than enough time to speak to Eames while he dreamed. There was an empty lawn chair nearby, an extra line to the PASIV and enough chemicals available. Though he didn't make it a habit to invade the dreams of his coworkers (unlike certain young Architects he knew), Arthur couldn't stop himself from taking this chance with his new knowledge.

After hooking himself up and laying down close to the Forger, all it took was a few seconds to be pulled down into the other man's dream.

* * *

As Arthur opened his eyes he found himself in an apartment that he didn't recognize. It wasn't large and gave the first impression of being cluttered- a bookshelf that was practically spilling excess novels or other books, many of which that had been painstakingly stacked up on the ground in neat piles.

The furniture was worn but comfortable, maybe second hand.

And that was about as far as Arthur had gotten in examining his new dreaming environment when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps, was crashed into, and then held in desperation.

"Oh darling," Eames said reverently against Arthur's neck. "Why didn't you gatecrash my dreams earlier in the week? I've been driving myself mad waiting for you to get it into your head that you had to find me in a dream, before you had to dreamshare with me for the job- to be honest, I wasn't quite sure how I would have been able to contain myself if you hadn't!"

Eames ended that flood of words with a kiss to the skin he found there, exposed and unprotected by the neck of his buttoned and perfectly pressed shirt. There had never been a moment that Arthur had wished he wore casual clothing to work more.

At that gentle touch, he felt himself inclining into it- leaning his head slightly to the side, offering up his neck like some cat begging for the attentions of its master.

The smile that Eames pressed into his skin prompted Arthur to say something ridiculous. "I want you to call me darling again. And love. And pet."

The smile widened. "I knew you loved the endearments- you _are_ my darling, love, pet, and whatever else I can come up with!"

"Shut up, Mr. Eames and just kiss me!"

For once Eames did exactly what Arthur had asked- and my god had Arthur wanted to ask for this for awhile! It was lips and tongue and just the right amount of teeth. If Arthur held onto Eames any tighter, he would have passed _through_ him, and since they were in a dream, it was advised to think very hard about being solid.

And, god, at the moment all he could think about was that there was something quite hard and very solid pressing up against him. And, if he was able to just make The Forger's pants disappear, it was quite possible that there would be much more than making out and heavy petting in his future.

Arthur, focused and precise, best damn Point Man in the business, was reduced to a little more than a bundle of want and he didn't care right now.

He had been waiting for this for too long. He had denied himself so much and was more than eager to begin something. And that was how they had ended up on the couch, because with very few words exchanged both had indicated that even in a dream the floor couldn't be all that comfortable.

"I miss you," Arthur managed to say between kisses that felt almost bruising, "You haven't gone anywhere, but I still miss you!"

"I think I understand madness now," Eames said as he forced Arthur's shirt open, scattering buttons across the floor and the couch cushions he pressed Arthur down into. "I feel like two different people- while awake I think that you are a perfect stranger and while asleep you're all I think about!"

"I can't take it anymore," Arthur groaned as Eames did something devilish that involved making the Point Man's slacks and underwear disappear and then a forceful pressing of the hips that would grind their lower bodies together. If Arthur could be likened to anything, he'd be something like ivy that had chosen to curl around Eames, wanting more contact, slipping his legs around the man's hips in anticipation- grateful that the Forger had thought to get rid of such pesky things like _clothing_. "I'm using the last bit of reason I've got right now; shouldn't we talk about the accident? What's happened so far?"

Eames looked down at Arthur who didn't look quite so proper. Disheveled hair, lips that were swollen from his kisses, and a level of excitement that others would say was impossible for the man to express. Further evidence of excitement was pressing firmly against the Forger's stomach.

"There was an accident," Eames said in response to Arthur, laying a kiss against his lips. "I have forgotten you in the waking world but remember you here." He pressed another kiss against the side of Arthur's neck that garnered him a moan of pleasure. "You are trying valiantly to bring my memories of you back to the surface without compromising what we once had."

Eames ran a hand down the side of Arthur's face and gazed deeply into his eyes. "Did I just about cover it, love?"

When Arthur nodded, Eames chose that moment to sink himself home with one silken push of his hips, thus ending the conversation.

It took Arthur by surprise at first- and then, soon, Arthur could care less that there hadn't been the preparation he would demand while in reality.

He had dreamed of having sex with Eames several times. Okay, more than several. It had become a regular occurrence for him after the Inception and took up more of his thoughts than he would readily admit. But it had a different tone in this dream. It wasn't just happenstance and a dreamed up situation of lovemaking. It was Eames's intention to make love to him, his real wanting to, the affection and desire that fueled their movements wasn't manufactured- it was as real as was possible in their shared dream. That was it. A shared wish, the equal wanting and sharing, and the search for completion that they both required after waiting for each other for so long.

Though he still had questions, still wanted to know what it was like down here, and how he could possibly make the waking Eames remember him any better, he was now driven to slip his legs off of Eames's hips to get better leverage in order to return each thrust. He left crescent shaped marks from his fingernails deep in the flesh of Eames's shoulders and back.

Even as close as they were, sharing each other's breath, pressing their lips together again and again, it was like it wasn't enough.

Arthur squeezed his eyes shut hard, convulsing as Eames found his prostate, making him see stars even behind his closed lids.

"There it is," Eames said with a breathy chuckle and had Arthur opening his eyes even as the Forger pushed harder, his intent appearing to make Arthur dissolve from the repeated thrusts against that sensitive bundle of nerves.

He felt so close, just on the edge, and when he felt Eames reach for one of the hands he had fisted into the material of the couch, he didn't think of letting go. The Forger twinned their fingers together, his palm resting against the back of Arthur's hand. He led their clasped hands down together and pressed them against Arthur's straining length.

Arthur gasped at the first touch and looked up into Eames's face as he felt the pleasure begin to pool in his belly, tightening up his lower back.

"I want you to show me how to touch you, love. What do you like?"

Following what Eames intended, with their joined hands, Arthur grasped himself, feeling a little thrill at the sensation of Eames fingers gripping him as well, allowing Arthur to control the movements as he pleasured himself.

"That's perfect, love," Eames praised, still moving within him, but now pressing his face against the hollow of Arthur's throat. Arthur could feel the quickness of his breathing, the fast beating of his heart, and knew that soon, this was going to be over. "More perfect than I could ever dream," Eames said, moaning deep in his throat and pushing a bit harder. "Darling, I love you," he said in a broken voice as his pleasure began to peak.

Arthur gasped and without giving it another thought, he responded. It was one of the few things he could ever say that he knew with complete certainty. "I love you too, Eames," he sighed, feeling everything building and building, the pleasures taking him higher before finally-

The timer on the PASIV reached zero, and Arthur woke up.

* * *

There was a moment where Arthur thought that this had been one of the dreams he had by himself- in the quiet of his lonely and cold apartment. It had felt so powerful, so intense though, that he couldn't think of it as one of his normal dreams.

The illusion of this being an occurrence without consequence vanished when Arthur felt the lead from the PASIV ripped from his arm, the needle stinging as it drew blood.

The flurry of movement and the pain forced Arthur to try and get up, automatically looking over at Eames.

He wished he hadn't. Eames had ripped his own lead out and was already up on his feet and looming over Arthur. When he tried to get up, Eames forced him back down on the lawn chair, restraining him.

"What in the hell was that you sick bastard!" Eames growled, glaring daggers.

Nightmare, Arthur thought to himself as he watched the face he had previously been looking up at from a similar position but under far different circumstances- there was no relation between those two men. While Eames in the dream had been so loving, so attentive, expressing his love and desire for Arthur without restraint. The only restraint Arthur could see here in the waking world was in how The Forger was trying to master his anger.

He looked quite capable of _hurting_ Arthur at this point, and it gave him that feeling of cresting the roller coaster- and suddenly realizing that there was no more track to roll down on safely- that he was about to go sailing through the air with the momentum of the coaster but then fall swiftly to the ground in several pieces.

"Please let me explain," Arthur began.

"What? What are you going to explain to me? A few days ago you didn't want me! Now you think it's okay to screw me in dreams?!"

Arthur swallowed hard. "You don't understand. You were in an accident, Yusuf exposed you to a chemical that made you forget me- Eames we have been working together for years!"

Eames's eyes narrowed. "You make it a habit to ignore a man in real life and then have sex in a dream? Is that what we do?"

Shocked, Arthur shook his head. "No, Eames! You, god, how do I explain it? We're trying to get your memory back- I couldn't force you back into what you felt before- our slate had been cleaned and we had to work back up to this. When you asked about whether I would go out with you, I panicked because I didn't want to lead you on!"

Eames was giving him a look that held a terrifying weight to it. His thoughts were not kind and his intentions weren't fair.

"Lead me on, eh? Well I'd say that you stepped in it really nicely. Have you been _making me_ have these little dreams about you- the little 'I feel special because I'm the only one who catches _Arthur's_ smiles?' dreams?"

Eames forced his hand down harder against the Point Man's chest as he recited more of his 'Arthur-expert' dreams.

"'Arthur only drinks tea on Wednesday's?' 'Arthur always shares the last cinnamon roll from the bakery when I've had a bad day?' 'If Arthur would just _look_ at me before I catch him pretending to have not been staring, maybe I could get him to agree to go to dinner with me?'"

He laughed. "Have you been trying to lay your own kind of inception on me, _darling_?" Arthur flinched as the endearment that normally made him so happy, instead made him sick. "Trying to make me _think_ that I like you so much?"

Arthur felt like he couldn't breathe, the pressure on his chest making it hard for him to draw a full breath. In any other situation, Arthur would have stopped this. He would have made the person forcing him down stop- either by trickery or force. Arthur was versed in hand to hand combat and he was strong despite being a slender lean muscled man.

But, because it was Eames, Arthur couldn't do it. He couldn't raise a hand against him even to help himself at this point.

"Eames," Arthur forced the name out and tried to keep solid steely control over his emotions. He was a rock. He was a Point Man. He shouldn't be affected this strongly by what was happening, but in any and all situations that involved Eames, Arthur was lost.

"Shut up," Eames said coldly. He looked over his shoulder at the open journal and smiled cruelly down at Arthur. "Such a good Point Man. You'll pry apart anything to get your data, won't you? I can't believe I even thought for a second that you weren't so cold. That you even were worth trying to start anything with!"

When Eames pulled his hand away and released his pressure, Arthur sucked in a great lungful of air and tried to get up into a sitting position quickly.

Eames was staring at him. It wasn't anything close to how he had looked at him in the past, or in the dream, or anytime they had known each other. He was openly suspicious, even a little disgusted.

"You know _Arthur_ ," Eames said sharply, making the other man's name sound like something derogatory or low, nothing like how he had whispered it against his flesh in the midst of their dream together. Nothing that made him feel special or wanted in the least.

"Maybe I was right to forget you!"

At that moment, Arthur felt something deep inside of him develop thin hairline fractures, spider webs of damage that would break apart into heavy fragments at the slightest touch. And it was Arthur's dearest wish that he be outside of this room and away from Eames when it took place.

In a way, he got his wish as Eames grabbed his bag and his journal and left the warehouse without another word to Arthur. When the door slammed shut, Arthur allowed himself to collapse in on himself as he sat on the lawn chair. He hugged himself so tightly that it made him recall the phone call that had led to his involvement in this drama- how he had held himself in a similar way, giving himself the straitjacket feeling.

The straitjacket feeling wasn't helping- he was now truly alone, he didn't even have the hope of Eames to help him through this.

It took days for Arthur to finally come to the proper conclusion. Deep in his heart, amidst the heartbreak, was a feeling of hate so strong that he wasn't sure where it was directed.

He hated Yusuf for enlisted Eames's help with this chemical that took his memory of Arthur away.

He tried to hate Eames, but realized that he hated himself even more for what had transpired in just one week.

On the seventh day, after a few days of not showing up to the warehouse to work, not answering his cell phone, and then ignoring the messages his fellow team members would leave him when he wouldn't answer, Arthur had had an idea that was beautiful in its simplicity.

If Eames had forgotten him because of that chemical focusing on his feelings of lost hope over _not_ starting a relationship so long after the Inception, perhaps Arthur could also expose himself to this drug.

Eames had definitely caused Arthur plenty of trauma in just their last interaction alone. If he used the drug while working with the PASIV, had his memory of Eames erased, perhaps he could move on.

If he went back to work with Dom and Eames was still present as their Forger, he could take his spot as Point Man and return the feelings of animosity tit for tat with Eames, just like they used to.

Or, Eames could leave his position once Arthur showed up with no true memory of the Forger left to haunt him. It would be like he never existed.

The thought made Arthur's stomach twist, but, he felt that he had no recourse. Before leaving his apartment, he spotted the framed photo that he would always look at with such warm feelings. In the photo, Eames hugged him close to his side and looked so content, so wonderful, that it always gave Arthur this hope that the relationship was possible.

It took an extra moment, but he removed the picture from the frame. It was the only photo that featured himself and Eames positioned that close and looking anywhere near happy with one another. It was the picture that could give anyone the idea that they ever could or would be a couple.

The last thing Arthur did before leaving was burn it on the top of his stove so he wouldn't be faced with the evidence later, when it wouldn't matter what a picture could show him when he didn't even know the man anymore.

* * *

"I want you to reconsider."

"Not bloody likely."

"My friend, you don't understand what's going on. He has had your best intentions at heart!"

Eames glared at Yusuf while keeping his attention away from Arthur's empty desk. He was still deeply angry over what had come to pass between himself and the Point Man that was now AWOL.

"Next time a perfect stranger comes into your dreams to shag you, we can chat about how good their intentions were, but I think that the subject of Arthur is _closed_!"

Yusuf looked at him with a particularly hard expression.

Like Eames was a problem he was meant to solve.

"He loves you," Yusuf pronounced, emphasizing each word. It gained the attention of the two remaining dream workers who had been politely ignoring the arguing pair until Arthur's name had been brought up.

"He faked the papers for your apartment complex's pest extermination so you could stay with him and have a better chance at recalling him."

Eames made a face as if he were sucking on something sour. "A lot of good that did, for all I know he was the one giving me those dreams before he decided that he should get a little dream sex since he didn't want to 'lead me on'," Eames said, using little air quotes as he spoke.

This made Yusuf raise an eyebrow. "So you were having dreams about Arthur? What were they about?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Don't you have work to do?"

Yusuf only pressed harder. "What else am I to do? You have moved out of Arthur's place and don't seem to remember anything about him from before- for that matter you don't seem to want to after what had happened a few days ago."

Eames didn't regard him with an answer. Yusuf waited a second, and then two, before turning his back and walking away.

"Then I guess there is nothing else I can help you with."

Eames shot a look at Dom and Ariadne, both who worked hard at making it appear as if they didn't care about the outside conversation that had nothing to do with their work as a team but interested them on a personal level.

"Can we talk about this outside?" Eames finally asked, rising to his feet.

Yusuf stopped, turned, and then nodded sharply.

"We'll get coffee. You're buying."

* * *

"The truth is that I had been able to return to my apartment after the first couple of days at Arthur's place."

Yusuf raised an eyebrow, sipping at his beverage before placing it down in front of him at the table he had Eames had chosen in the busy coffee shop.

"You stayed two more days even though you didn't have to? That doesn't sound like you disliked Arthur as much as you are letting on now."

Eames let out a frustrated sigh. "I had been telling you what I was going through. I _knew_ that he was familiar, and yeah, I was getting pretty jealous of the others when they interacted with him- specifically Ariadne! And when I broached the subject of even going on a date, he blows me off!"

Yusuf nodded slowly. "And yet, you stayed after finding out that you could go home- how did you find out that you could anyway?"

Eames shrugged and only picked at the pastry he had bought to go with his tea. "I called the manager and asked. He said that there hadn't been any extermination planned, at least, not yet. I got curious as to why I would have to stay with Arthur if I didn't have to."

Yusuf shrugged. "Yes, it couldn't possibly have been because you enjoyed the man's company and oh, horror of horrors, found that you liked him a bit more than you thought."

Eames was too tired to glare. He was tired of being upset. Of being angry. Of being confused. His dreams were beginning to scare him with their intensity.

"The dreams were getting to me."

Yusuf waited.

"The dreams where I believed I knew things about Arthur. Things that I shouldn't know or even care about!"

Yusuf nodded and took another sip of his drink. "The dreams where all you do is talk about Arthur and think about Arthur. But that still doesn't tell me why you stayed with him even if you didn't have to."

"I-," Eames began and then stopped himself. The truth was that he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure why he did, or what he could possibly gain from it, even if he did admit that he watched Arthur like mad during those times. Watched and watched, waiting for something to click.

"I wanted to know why he was so familiar. He couldn't be so familiar if I hadn't been around him, right? Everyone says so!"

Yusuf nodded heavily. "I'm sorry about the effects of the chemical, I have been working at it day and night but I haven't found a way to counteract the effects of the drug."

Eames sighed and looked into the depths of his mug of tea. Tea…it made him frown because he recalled what he had written down about Arthur and tea. Arthur had tea on Wednesday's- today was a Wednesday. Briefly he wondered, wherever the Point Man was, if he was having tea. He looked at his pastry and shook his head. It was a blasted cinnamon roll. Which made him think of Arthur- who would give him the last one if he wasn't having a good day. How could he have done something so stupid as give himself two reminders of the person he didn't want to think about, and really, couldn't completely remember?

But, even then, it wasn't completely true, now was it?

The dreams where he listened to another person talk about Arthur- that information had to be coming from somewhere. Yusuf had reviewed the journal without criticism or comment, as Eames had tried to ignore him.

He had suspected that he was listening to himself go on and on about Arthur, but, why?

Yes, he had been attracted to the man. He had felt that strange sensation, that niggling little feeling one gets when you meet a person that you haven't seen for years.

The feeling he had experienced while watching Arthur had struck him as absurd.

You don't fancy someone after meeting them once.

You don't get jealous over your coworkers because of that person you have met only once.

You don't have dreams every single freaking night in which you know personal information about that person.

Eames had been of the firm opinion that he was going mad- that he had two personalities that fought against one another.

But it was all too much like a trashy soap opera. Even his reaction when Arthur had entered his dream…he was ashamed of what he had said and done afterwards. It had needled him that Arthur would just _do that_! And if Eames had been willing to be honest with himself, he was more disappointed upset Arthur had chosen to do it in a dream rather than in reality.

Apparently, Eames had been sitting with his thoughts for awhile longer than he had thought. When he next thought to take a sip of his tea, it wasn't even lukewarm anymore.

"If you'd like I can try to run a few tests on you to see what your subconscious is up to," Yusuf offered politely.

Eames rolled his eyes. The man was eager to get him into his little lab- wonderful.

"Fine."

* * *

When they arrived at Yusuf's both men noticed something was off.

"Your door is open," Eames said as they walked up.

Yusuf swore and raced up the stairs, Eames fast on his heels.

What a disaster it would be if some little punk had chosen _his_ place to raid for items to steal? The thief would find things that were better than TV sets and computers to hock if he got into Yusuf's personal lab to find his chemicals or, worse, the PASIV.

But when they entered, they were surprised to find that it wasn't some hooligan, who had broken in, but Arthur.

Inside the lab, the PASIV had been set up, fired up and ready to go. Laying next to it was Arthur, who had already inserted his needle and only looked up at their intrusion briefly.

"Huh," he said, almost to himself. "I thought I gave myself more time than that."

When Eames was about to race over to stop him from pressing the button that allowed the chemicals to be distributed, Yusuf grabbed a fistful of his shirt and made him stay at his side.

"Arthur, my friend," Yusuf said. "If you needed anything, you could have called…and you know, _not_ break into my place. I'd be happy to help you with whatever you require!"

Arthur did not look well. He had clearly not had much sleep and wasn't himself. The man was dressed and put together as nicely as ever, but there was a blankness to his features and his expression that was foreboding. It was clear that he was about to do something damaging and didn't quite care.

Eames flinched when he met Arthur's gaze, realizing that this had to be his fault. His words came back to haunt him.

_Maybe I was right to forget you!_

"I had a feeling you wouldn't comply if you knew what I wanted."

"And what would that be, Arthur?" Yusuf asked, even as he looked at the materials around the room that had been moved, used, and replaced.

"I'm going to forget Eames. He'll feel better, because I won't bother him. I'll feel better because I won't remember him at all. Simple."

It seemed that the next warning on Yusuf's lips was deflected with the Point Man's characteristic attention to detail.

"If you try to warn me about getting the dosage wrong, or say that I'm using the wrong chemical, I'll know that you're lying. You keep such concise notes, Yusuf, that it was easy for me to work out the dosage and pick the proper chemical," Arthur said, and then as an afterthought, "Thanks, by the way."

Eames felt something inside begin to react to the Point Man's words. For a moment Eames believed that he would be sick, or faint, or do any number of things that could disgrace him or make him incapable of stopping Arthur from doing something he could come to regret.

But before Eames could put a name to it, Arthur pressed the button, closed his eyes, and was no longer awake with the aid of the PASIV.

"Oh my dear god," Eames said as he rushed to Arthur's side. He did the first thing he could think of and shook Arthur, grasping him by the shoulders and trying to shake him awake.

Nothing.

As his eyes moved to the PASIV and the button that could stop it's working, Yusuf stopped him.

"No, Eames. The chemical isn't stable and it's not safe to just put a stop to it! He won't wake up because the chemical is paired with a mild sedative to aid the process of therapy with the chemical."

Eames produced another lead for the machine without a second thought. "Then I go in after him."

Yusuf bit his tongue against his next reply. There was something firm in Eames's stance- he wasn't going to budge where Arthur was concerned. Not after everything that had occurred.

Yusuf nodded sharply and helped Eames prepare.

Eames laid down near to Arthur and allowed Yusuf to apply the needle.

"You won't have much time Eames. I don't know what a second dose of this chemical will do to you-"

Eames, sleepily, shook his head from side to side. "Don't care- I need Arthur," he said before his head dropped to the side and he fell asleep.

When Eames opened his eyes he was faced with the beach- its stretches of damp sand without any water rushing across its surface with the waves, the bunches of seaweed, the rocks and cobbles.

Close by was Arthur standing underneath the blinding sunlight, looking out at the ocean, clearly waiting for the wave that must have been in Yusuf's notes about the chemical.

Because he himself had pictured the chemical's reaction as a tidal wave, it stood to reason that Arthur might have the same idea- water washes things clean, and the force and power of a tsunami was supposed to be terrifying with its destruction and power.

"Arthur, you don't have to do this love!"

Arthur barely turned to look at him.

"What does it matter, then? You hate me in reality. I love you, I can't see myself ever giving up on you, so this seemed to be the most logical answer."

"We can work this out," Eames begged, slogging through the damp sand to reach his side.

Arthur looked at him carefully, as if trying to make a decision.

"Either you happen to be my projection of an Eames who gives a damn, or you actually did something as freaking ignorant as following me down here," Arthur's eyes flashed with something that went from curious to alarmed.

"Get out of here!" Eames stood his ground.

"No." Arthur pulled his gun and pointed it at Eames.

"Eames, I will shoot you. I will shoot you, you will wake up, and we can start over once I wake up after this." Eames looked out to the sea and saw it- he remembered his dream, how large the wave was, the color of the water, what it felt like to be completely enveloped inside it- his fear as he drowned.

Of course he had woken up, albeit without a memory of Arthur! He didn't want to see Arthur go through the same.

"Come back with me Arthur and we can start over together- you don't have to erase me from your memory, darling!" Arthur's breath caught in his throat.

"You can't remember me when you're awake Eames! The last time I even spoke to you, you accused me of making you _think_ you're attracted to me and then, of course, screwing you!"

It broke Eames's heart to see the frustrated tears gather at the corners of the Point Man's eyes.

"Darling, please. I'm trying so hard to piece it together in reality. I think that it's coming back together- but I need you. I really do! So, please just come back with me before-," Eames's voice died in his throat as the shadow began to envelope them.

The sound of the water that was a blue color that was so deep that it was nearly black, the monster wave approaching at a great speed, getting taller and taller, ready to fall on them as they stood helpless on the barren shore. Eames did the only thing he could think of-

As the wave struck them, he took his final breath of air and pressed his lips firmly against Arthur's, pulling him close and holding him for dear life- not allowing the power of the wave to separate him from Arthur who clung to him just as desperately.

They were spun, thrown, and swallowed down by the force of the water, the wave moving farther up the shore where surely it could destroy houses and inundate the land.

Keeping a firm hold onto Arthur, who had long since sent his gun spinning into the surging waters, they shared that scant bit of oxygen.

But soon, their lungs were aching, the strain was getting to be too much, the urge to just take a deep breath of the water that surrounded them grew near impossible to ignore and-

They opened their eyes. Their clothing was dry. They lay not even a foot apart from one another and when they understood what had occurred, they removed themselves from their spots around Yusuf's PASIV and ripped the needles from their arms. They then moved together to hold one another tightly.

Yusuf, who had been sitting near at hand to watch over the pair, stood up and presented them with something familiar.

It was a framed photo, the same one that Arthur had burned.

He first showed it to Eames who couldn't let himself let go of Arthur.

"Tell me, in the photo," Yusuf said, "Who are you standing with?"

"Arthur!" Eames said immediately. "I'm with Arthur!"

Taking this as a good sign, Yusuf asked the same question of Arthur.

"It's…" Arthur paused and looked closely at the photo. Eames held his breath. He had been so sure that he had saved Arthur with his quick thinking! The timer had to have run out at exactly the right moment…or maybe not? It was going to drive him mad if he didn't find out!

"It's," Arthur began again, turning to look at Eames himself, who he hadn't let go of yet. "The stupid man who wouldn't listen to me when I said to get the hell away from the tsunami."

Eames frowned. "Nothing else? Not a name? Or a fact?"

"Your name is Eames," Arthur said promptly, smiling slyly, "And I'm still deciding if I love you after what you just pulled." Eames gaped at the Point Man.

"That's not fair. It's not even funny to pretend that you don't remember me! Not after what I had to go through when I got hit by the wave!"

Yusuf stared at their interaction and shook his head.

"After a second dose of the chemical, you retain your memory," the Chemist said pointing first at the Forger, who nodded slowly.

"I guess so. I mean, I held my breath when the water hit us so I didn't drown this time."

Yusuf looked to Arthur. "Well? How did you not die in the wave as well?"

Arthur blushed and shrugged. "Eames was holding my breath, too."

There was a silence where Yusuf understood that it was easily one of the more romantic ways to have survived the situation.

"I will be contacting you both, periodically, over the next few weeks. We'll check your memories frequently. I'd ask that you both could keep an eye on one another just in case there is a relapse or it comes to light that a different aspect of your memories has been damaged. Is that going to be a problem?"

Arthur looked at Eames with a raised eyebrow.

Eames smiled his best crooked grin.

"I think that it would be rather beneficial for us to spend some time together- your place, not mine!" Eames said quickly. "I have no idea if the pest problem was ever _really_ taken care of between you both fabricating the letter from the management company, and my management company's general laziness." Eames grinned again. "Besides, your place has the better shower. And, um, if you recall, darling I would like to find out what else you _like_. If you get my drift, that is?"

Yusuf was fairly certain that Eames thought he was being clever as he made shoddily veiled comments that probably were about sex while _winking_ at Arthur.

Arthur smiled back. "Perfect. You get to test my food for poison, steal my newspaper, and obnoxiously sing in the car. If you even attempt to insinuate that I'm doing Ariadne or Dom, something unfortunate is going to happen that may or may not include a #2 pencil."

As the two men shook on it, Yusuf frowned- not understanding a single thing the Point Man had just said- well, aside from the threat with the pencil.

Yusuf diverted his attention when the friendly handshake turned into a meeting of the lips as Eames leaned forwards and captured the Point Man as he had been mid-word. Arthur didn't seem to mind that he had been interrupted and returned the kiss full heartedly.

They, it appeared, were going to be just fine.

The one thing that was certain was that Yusuf was going to destroy every sample of that chemical before anything like this could happen again. And while it was wonderful to know that that second exposure to the compound ironed out the Forger's problem (quite possibly by making it as if the _trauma_ of forgetting Arthur didn't exist?) Yusuf wasn't willing to have the chemical on hand for the sake of safety.

Life was crazy enough, Yusuf thought as he believed it was safe to glance over at the pair of dream workers, who for the moment had stopped their kissing and were giving each other some pretty loving glances.

Crazy, Yusuf thought with a shake of his head, but _good_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original version of this fic can be found here- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9383833/1/Straitjacket-Feeling.


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